Your Man in the Orient - Part 1 (A Guide to Living in Vietnam)
By Albert Jack
5/5
()
About this ebook
An Englishman lives in Cape Town for ten-years and then, by accident, packs up and moves to Vietnam, having never even been there on holiday.
What could possibly go wrong?
Extract - When I decided to escape the Hanoi heat for a few days I looked for flights to Sapa, a village in the northern mountains of Vietnam near the Chinese border, but I learned that the only real option was to take one of the overnight trains. There are several available.
The Orient Express, The Victoria Train, The Green Line and about six others, all ranging in price and therefore, I assumed, standard. I also noticed that they all left Hanoi Central Station at the same time, which was odd.
It conjured up images of a race but, being twelve, I quite liked that idea. I selected the one that offered a private cabin but, as usual, things were not as easy as they at first appear, or should be.
After more nodding, pointing and charades it became obvious to me that I couldn’t have a private cabin. ‘Why not?’ I turns out that the private cabins were for couples and I would have to share with someone. Now, obviously, this could turn out to be a Swedish backpacker in hiking boots and shorts who turned into a whiskey dispensing nymphet ten minutes out of Hanoi Station.
But I am too experienced for that these days. I know how my luck runs. I get the snoring middle-aged German. That’s how it runs and I was having none of that. ‘I am a couple, there are two of me,’ I argued. I sensed that she already thought that.
‘Ok Mr Jack,’ she said with a sigh, ‘and the name and age of your traveling companion is?’ I had to think fast. ‘Jameson’ I said. ‘Ms. She is eighteen-years old and has been going everywhere with me for twenty-five years.’ After all, it's not entirely untrue. She gave up on me at that point, issued two tickets, charged me two prices, looked at me as if I were an idiot (also not entirely untrue) and off I went to the station. Hanoi Central is an amazing experience and would have been fun if it hadn't been about 1600 degrees.
I sat outside for a few minutes with a cold beer just to absorbed the scene. It was just like one of those Michael Palin documentaries, ‘Around the World’ or something like that. Teeming with people, excitement, anticipation, back packers, locals, the good, the bad and the ugly. And me watching the whole mad event with my traveling companion zipped up in a suitcase.
I fully expected to see the great man himself emerge from the crowd, remove his panama hat, wipe the sweat from his brow and ask for a slug of my eighteen-year old. I would have shared. Before too much longer my head began to melt and so I made my way through the departure hall and hurried passed the ticket inspectors. ‘And Ms Jameson?’ one of them called after me. ‘It’s alright, she is in my bag’ I shouted back, and left them wondering. ‘The Orient Express?’
I asked someone on the platform. He pointed to the single train standing there which read, The Green Line. ‘Where is the Orient Express?’ I asked again and he pointed further down the platform. As I walked I noticed the names on the side of the carriages changed and it then dawned on me.
There is only one train, just different carriage classes with varying names. And they all left at the same time, obviously. So there was to be no race after all. I found our cabin, spent a few moments enjoying the air conditioning, put the second bedding on the floor as a carpet, made myself comfortable, turned lovingly to my eighteen-year old and drank myself to sleep.
It is a shame that it is an overnight train as, apparently, it chugs through some of the most glorious scenery in the whole of Asia. I was awakened at 5.30am by a guard pulling on my leg. I didn’t like that. I had locked the door from the inside and he clearly had an override key. That means they are able to slip into your cabin at any point during the night and into your valuables, or worse.....
Read more from Albert Jack
English Words: Learn English: English Grammar: Advanced English Words: Origins, History & Meanings Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Moral Stories for Kids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShort Stories for Kids: Children’s Stories: Reading for Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Herrings & White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Robert Kennedy: JFK: The Death of Marilyn Monroe: Who Didn't Kill Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Laughed at Galileo: How the Great Inventors Proved Their Critics Wrong Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings9/11 Conspiracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnsolved Mysteries: Real Life Mysteries: Ten Famous Disappearances Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Food History & Recipe Origins: The Origins of the Names of the World's Favorite Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHealthy Breakfast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Urban Myths & Legends Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pop Goes the Weasel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDonald Trump: Donald Trump Quotes: In His Own Words Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Black Sheep and Lame Ducks: Origins of Idioms and Phrases Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5JFK: The Death of Marilyn Monroe: Who Didn't Kill Them Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUrban Myths: Short Stories: Urban Myths & Legends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flying Dutchman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Myths & Legends: Good Short Stories: Legends that made Britain Great Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Seventh Day Adventists & The Great American Fraud Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5D.B. Cooper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBermuda Triangle: Real Life Mysteries: Unsolved Mysteries Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Write Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeptember 11 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Healthy Breakfast: Food History: The History of our Favorite Breakfast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAre Aliens Real?: Aroura Spaceman: America's First Reported UFO Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlbert Jack's Ten Minute Mysteries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysterious World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jam: Sounds From The Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShaggy Dogs and Black Sheep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Your Man in the Orient - Part 1 (A Guide to Living in Vietnam)
Related ebooks
Your Man in the Orient - Part 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Intrepid Traveller: An Olympic Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnlimited Credit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Paris, Venice and Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Monk's Disciples Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lord Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Woman in the Fifth: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tokyo Cancelled Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Travelling, Trawling and the Utterly Appalling Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhotographic Journeys Vol. 6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings24 Hours' Notice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMorocco: Without a Pit to Hiss In Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Pearl Worth Diving For Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Travels of the Black Raven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFuture Memories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Sketches of Disjointed Happiness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Funny Thing Happened At 27,000 Feet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHollywood Taxi: True Confessions of a Kiss and Tell Driver Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving the Sky Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBehind the Bamboo Curtain: None Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories Of A Seaman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wagons of Perro Loco: And Other Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTricky Dick Nixon and the Five Naked Nuns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKolchak's Gold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRIDING ON THE WIND; TALES OF A REDNECK GYPSY, VOL 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDivorce Islamic Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fishing for Butterflies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStratagem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelf-Portrait Abroad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Travel For You
Kon-Tiki Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/550 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5RV Hacks: 400+ Ways to Make Life on the Road Easier, Safer, and More Fun! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Travel Guide to Ireland: From Dublin to Galway and Cork to Donegal - a complete guide to the Emerald Isle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFodor's Bucket List USA: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpotting Danger Before It Spots You: Build Situational Awareness To Stay Safe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disney Declassified Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes from a Small Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor's Bucket List Europe: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFodor's New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5South: Shackleton's Endurance Expedition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet Puerto Rico Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Van Life Cookbook: Delicious Recipes, Simple Techniques and Easy Meal Prep for the Road Trip Lifestyle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNashville Eats: Hot Chicken, Buttermilk Biscuits, and 100 More Southern Recipes from Music City Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Living the RV Life: Your Ultimate Guide to Life on the Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFodor's Best Road Trips in the USA: 50 Epic Trips Across All 50 States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drives of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Most Spectacular Trips Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet Mexico Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Camp Cooking: 100 Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Traveler's Guide to Batuu Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spanish Verbs - Conjugations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related categories
Reviews for Your Man in the Orient - Part 1 (A Guide to Living in Vietnam)
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Informative,truthful and educational but with a large slice of British humor.